After eight years as Head of Marketing for Red Bull UK and Europe, Huib van Bockel walked away to build something the industry told him couldn't work - an energy drink made entirely from nature, with 60% less sugar, and no artificial ingredients. Every manufacturer he approached said it wasn't commercially viable, but he found one willing to try. Today, Tenzing is the third-biggest energy drink brand in Tesco, and number one in London universities and climbing, proving that you can take on the "big dogs" of the soft drinks world.

Former Red Bull marketer Hub Van Bockel tells the story of founding Tenzing, the low‑sugar, all natural ingredient energy drink inspired by Himalayan brews and named with the blessing of Tenzing Norgay’s family. The episode covers Huib's idea, starting-up, early business development and pivoting on flavour, building and growing with communities, retail partnerships, winning major listings (including Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, ASDA) and minority investment by Heineken.

Listen to this episode to find out:

• Why every soft drink from apple juice to Red Bull has 11% sugar — and why Huib refused to follow the formula
• The overlooked advantage small brands have that Coca-Cola and Monster can never replicate, no what they spend
• How Tenzing grew by embedding in communities and the next-generation for who believe that "run clubs are the new nightclubs"
• The winning go-to-market approach Huib wishes he'd used far more when starting out
• What the entrepreneurship books get wrong about building a business actually

Find out more about Tenzing, buy online: https://tenzingnaturalenergy.com/

Connect with Huib on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/huib-van-bockel-8454834/

Books mentioned and recommended in this episode (affiliate links):

Daniel Kahneman ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’ https://uk.bookshop.org/a/15792/9780141033570

Richard Branson ‘Losing my Virginity’ https://uk.bookshop.org/a/15792/9780753519554

Phil Knight ‘Show Dog’ https://uk.bookshop.org/a/15792/9781471146725

How much can we influence people with advertising? What’s the best way to understand and model buyer behaviour? How should we set about growing market share?

James Hankins has worked in agency, consultant and client roles, tackling these very questions. In this episode, he challenges marketing myths and woolly thinking, and explains why understanding your market matters more than chasing funnels. The conversation blends practical strategy with behavioural insight to help marketers - and leaders - make better decisions.

I worked at the same media agency as James in the 2000s (Walker Media). Since then, his insights have regularly appeared in the marketing press, at the IPA, and in my LinkedIn feed. He’s a veteran of the UK's major media and advertising groups and, more recently, Global VP Marketing Strategy and Planning for Sage. He’s also the creator of the Share of Search and Hankins Hexagon models.

Listen to this episode to learn:

• Why market dynamics are the gravity upon which strategy and execution must be built
• How Share of Search works and how it gives the rest of us valuable market share data
• Why funnels are misleading and how the Hankins Hexagon is better for marketers looking to influence buyers
• The impact of slowing SaaS growth on businesses like Sage
• How brands, influence and ‘share of model’ will likely play out in the world of ChatGPT

All that, and this episode features the podcast’s first mention of devil worship.

The Hankins Hexagon: https://www.marketingweek.com/forget-funnels-new-model-path-to-purchase/

If you’re a WARC subscriber, the full paper is here: https://www.warc.com/content/paywall/article/warc-exclusive/the-hankins-hexagon-a-new-practical-model-for-the-path-to-purchase/en-gb/137888?

More about Share of Search and how to calculate yours: https://www.myshareofsearch.com

Connect with James on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-cp-hankins/

Read James' blog: https://theeqplanner.wordpress.com

Chris Brogan shares some brutally honest insights about leadership, growth and being helpful. He's a self-proclaimed expert at failing, but what does that mean? And how can leaders learn from it to keep their organisations flexible and effective even as they grow at speed?

Ten-time author, executive coach, strategic advisor, writer, photographer and co-host of the internet’s Backpack Show and Playing For Time, Chris is a master communicator. As Chief of Staff at Appfire, he most recently helped steer the B2B SaaS company from $10m to $275m of ARR (annually recurring revenue). Despite this, he claims he's never been ‘capable or qualified’ for anything he's done professionally.

This is a conversation packed with wisdom, experience and smart thinking. And a very dry reference to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers that went right over my head at the time. Listen to discover:

• what Chris thinks is crucial about failure and failing,
• the traits that make for great (and not so great) leaders,
• why companies lose their elasticity as they grow - and what you can do about it,
• what he wants to do for the rest of his life,
• why he’s learning to code,
• some excellent tips for cold email marketing, and
• the philosophical lessons we should take from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cbrogan/

Sign-up for his newsletter: https://chrisbrogan.com/#newsletter

Check out that Anthony Kiedis/Red Hot Chilli Peppers reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DyziWtkfBw

The report about the gender difference in confidence when it comes to apply for roles: https://hbr.org/2014/08/why-women-dont-apply-for-jobs-unless-theyre-100-qualified

And due credit to The Adaptavist Group's Jari Worsley for the story about his dad training spreadsheet users back in the day. Read more here: https://bit.ly/4onTjXJ

Further reading:

Chris Brogan ‘Social Media 101’ (affiliate link) https://uk.bookshop.org/a/15792/9780470621004

Chris Brogan & Julien Smith ‘The Impact Equation’ (affiliate link) https://uk.bookshop.org/a/15792/9780670922406

Ryan Holliday ‘ Ego Is The Enemy’ (affiliate link) https://uk.bookshop.org/a/15792/9781781257029

Chris Whipple ‘The Gatekeepers’ (affiliate link) https://amzn.eu/d/1m2wNHl